In light of recent posts and comments from contributors re bans and restrictions.

There has been a push for areas subject to possible restrictions to have local codes of conduct posted on signs at the beach.

Seeing as most Aussie kiters have access to seabreeze.com.au and most visiting touro's seem to find it quickly, would it be a good idea to have Seabreeze have a page where you can click on a map and see the local code of conduct for a particular beach?

Who compiles it and updates it?

Who decides the code?

These are questions that could be discussed on this forum.

I suggest local clubs get together and do it. Maybe AKSA could post these local "recommendations" also.

Any comments?

Here's a sample of a map I made to give to visiting kiters and my students when I was instructing. (apologies for business name on pic)

Smooth Dave. BTW the infamous kite eater tree on top of where we have been launching lately has been cut down. There is now heaps of launching space.

Good idea! also helpful to new kiters or visiting kiters to find where good spots are and what winds to kite in.

you will have heaps more people to show off to youngheffer!

It's a great idea .. AKSA, WAKSA, KBV, NSWKBA & SAKSA all have seem to have reasonably comprehesive where to/where not kite instructions .. SEQKA have just launched their new site with locations .. maybe you can donate your image to them?

It looks like a "consolidation & expansion" kind of gig to bring all the data together?

Perhaps we can collect information from this topic, and compile it into a "Kiting In Australia" article?

Always stoked to build/publish anything for this site that will help make kiting better for all of us.

How about this?


HAHAHAHA just kidding fellas

stribo said...

How about this?

Cactus would get awfully crowded.

Dave's pictures are a work of art, however could be difficult to access for backpackers and euros unsure of where to look for this info. If we could do all spots in Aussie like this and available on Seabreeze it would be great (save a few secret spots though!)
Perhaps local shops / schools together with AKSA (and council approval) erect a large sign at the beach thereby "adopting" their local beach to both advertise themselves and advise of restrictions. Could be a win win for all?

Great idea to have one centralised spot for Australian kite sites and their local rules/conventions. I am currently travelling down the East Coast in from Cairns to Melbourne in a motorhome. Unlike most Euros in the Wicked vans, we have internet access, but there's still very little info on spots until you get to the major centres.

I'm kitesurfing at any spot that seems good, but local knowledge is hard to come by on the web, and usually available only if you stop someone on the beach and ask them if there's anything to watch/be wary of.

I've had good experiences and bad. Mostly good. Many locals are helpful and even invite me along to downwinders etc. The worst example so far was a bloke who when asked if there was anything to watch out for, be wary of etc said nup, and let me take off straight into a section of large rocks forming a reef in the surf.

I've certainly encountered plenty of people who love to share their spots, and have a great session, I've also run into plenty of people who want to protect their spots and are decidedly unfriendly.

When a great spot is made unridable by the sheer amount of inexperienced kiters in the water, I can see how this attitude can arise. I can also see 35 000 kms of alternative spots on the coastline.

Good info is the key to making all this fit together.

My first point of call is Google earth to look at the coastline, then a quick search with the place name on Seabreeze. Usually it's the advice of locals from the previous spot that sets you in the right direction for the next spot and so on.

Even to begin with a database of NO GO zones would be more helpful than GO zones for the international or interstate traveller.

Seeing as I'm 3 months into the journey, and still not out of Queensland yet - if that database gets up soon, I'll certainly be keen to test it all out over the rest of the journey. Might even be able to assist with some of the info I've picked up on the way.

One thing that might need to happen though is for the info to be in some kind of printed from (or printable) form for the travelers that don't have internet access all the time.

puppetonastring said...

It is a fantastic idea. I'm sure every kiter would agree (except that one thats always gotta be negative )

lol.
Dudes like Puppet just love making-up new rules and dreaming-up more visually-polluting signs.
And the thought of a fully comprehensive list of mysto kitespots complete with unenforceable guidelines gives him a hard-on.
haha
Well Puppet, here's my contribution of another rule for your stupid guidebook.
"NO SMOKING NEAR KITES"
Ever.
You see,
Oneday I was standing on the beach next to my kite,
minding my own business, just checking out the waves.
Some dude walks up smoking a cigarette and grills me about the wind and surf conditions.
Hot ash flicks-off the cigarette end and falls on my kite.
I bent down and checked out the new hole in the canopy.
The hole was perfectly round, amazing.....
As if a sharpened pencil was viciously stabbed thru the nylon flesh,
a bloodless wound in the colourful skin.

"Sorry man", he grinned.
The weasel words were uttered apologetically thru yellowed teeth.
The smoker slyly stubbed out the butt in the pristine sand, cleverly burying the evidence.
"That's cool", I replied.
"I'll just stick a nicotene patch over the hole", I said. "That will fix it".
lol.

waveslave said...

puppetonastring said...
I'm sure every kiter would agree (except that one thats always gotta be negative)

OMG How did he know who I was thinking of - LOL

But hey good suggestion slavey. I freak whenever I see a smoker near my kite.
I'll make sure they include that 'guideline'.
Then they can use one of those super sexy signs of the ciggy with that b i g H O T r e d X through it.
OOooooohhhh aaarrgghhhh - nearly there at the very thought of that one